Sympathomimetic Effects of Acute E-Cigarette Use: Role of Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Constituents.

Background: Chronic electronic (e) cigarette users have increased resting cardiac sympathetic nerve activity and increased susceptibility to oxidative stress. The purpose of the present study is to determine the role of nicotine versus non-nicotine constituents in e-cigarette emissions in causing these pathologies in otherwise healthy humans.

Methods And Results: Thirty-three healthy volunteers who were not current e-cigarette or tobacco cigarette smokers were studied.

Activation of the "Splenocardiac Axis" by electronic and tobacco cigarettes in otherwise healthy young adults.

The "Splenocardiac Axis" describes an inflammatory signaling network underlying acute cardiac ischemia, characterized by sympathetic nerve stimulation of hematopoietic tissues, such as the bone marrow and spleen, which then release proinflammatory monocytes that populate atherosclerotic plaques, thereby promoting ischemic heart disease. Electronic (e) cigarettes, like tobacco cigarettes trigger sympathetic nerve activation, but virtually nothing is known about their influence on hematopoietic and vascular tissues and cardiovascular risks. The objective of this study was to determine if the Splenocardiac Axis is activated in young adults who habitually use either tobacco or e-cigarettes.

Increased Cardiac Sympathetic Activity and Oxidative Stress in Habitual Electronic Cigarette Users: Implications for Cardiovascular Risk.

Importance: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have gained unprecedented popularity, but virtually nothing is known about their cardiovascular risks.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that an imbalance of cardiac autonomic tone and increased systemic oxidative stress and inflammation are detectable in otherwise healthy humans who habitually use e-cigarettes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cross-sectional case-control study of habitual e-cigarette users and nonuser control individuals from 2015 to 2016 at the University of California, Los Angeles.